Google Earth on a Google Phone...

Google Earth is available for the iPhone as I have already mentioned...

But earlier this week Google unveiled their new Android phone, which has a range of new features and, of course, Google Earth.

A post on the GEarth Blog has more detail on this.... complete with a short movie.

Google Earth on iPhone

Image by Alan Parkinson

For those who haven't heard (or are even remotely interested) I finally decided just after Christmas that what I really needed in my life was an iPhone. I opted for a 16Gb 3GS version in glossy white.

There are many reasons why I finally succumbed to the ever-so-shiny phone.

One of my thoughts was that I had seen geography colleagues using it in interesting ways in the classroom, and outside the classroom (the latter perhaps more than the former) and needed to investigate these by actually using them... and then reporting on them...

There were already some useful posts on the use of iPhones which have been building up over the last year or so since the 3G version of the phone was introduced.

Teachers using iPhones

Noel Jenkins posted an interesting thought on his DIGITAL GEOGRAPHY blog giving his thoughts - he hadn't got an iPhone at the time, but has now.

He has put it to good use with his QR CODE FIELDWORK work: WELLINGTON STORIES.

Had the pleasure of seeing Noel present this work down in Somerset at the end of last year.

Ollie Bray had already posted a series of posts on iPhone in education, originally posted back in 2009

Post 1 of 5 had information on an app called MIND MAKER: a mind mapping app

Post 2 of 5 had a post on TRACK ME app, which uses the GPS capability of the iPhone

Post 3 of 5 on iGLOW (which had a useful tip for adding a new ICON on a screen)

Post 3.5 of 5 on a SEISMOMETER app (which I downloaded)

Post 4 of 5 had information on Geography Fieldwork apps

Post 5 of 5 had information on an app called EARTHSCAPE

I also asked my PLN via Twitter, and got some recommendations. for apps.

Some of the websites which I use regularly also have iPhone apps, so I checked those out as well: FLICKR is my photo sharing APP of choice, and I also downloaded COOL IRIS for viewing them. Also the ANIMOTO app for watching videos I've produced, such as the movie for "a different view", and also Rain Today.

Image by Alan Parkinson

I also started a new iPHONE GEOGRAPHY GROUP on the GA Ning.

Here's the first page of the APPS I have so far. Got a 2nd page underway...

There are also some excellent features as part of the phone itself:

CAMERA and VIDEO CAMERA - obviously useful for story telling and fieldwork...

COMPASS - map orientation etc.

NOTES - no more clipboards

MAPS (using the built-in GPS) - endless potential here...

iTUNES and the iPOD settings for music and video and podcasts (including educational podcasts)

CLOCK: choose the WORLD CLOCK and add a range of cities that you are studying (quicker than the ones up on the wall...)

Also came across George Burgess's GCSE GEOGRAPHY revision app: GEOREV.

Might also check out the CLINOMETER, the GPS Cardinal, the RULER PHONE app, a Swiss Climate Change walk app, GEOTagging, We can take you there etc.

Got the BUMP app too - if you meet up, then feel free to BUMP me... Might get a chance at BETT in a couple of weeks time...

OK, so my iPhone adventure is underway...

And as this IS the Google Earth blog, worth mentioning how fantastic the Google Earth app for iPhone is - so quick and responsive, but still learning the finger movements to get the navigation smooth....

Google Earth Survey Results

A recent survey conducted on behalf of Digital Explorer shows that Google Earth has a significant positive impact on teaching and learning.

The survey was sent out to 481 geography teachers across the UK who had attended Google Earth training courses.

80% of respondents noted an increase in pupil attainment and their understanding of geography since using Google Earth in the classroom.

Similarly, 80% stated that their pupils were more engaged and 90% were likely or very likely to recommend Google Earth as a teaching tool.

“These figures are fantastic and back up what we have heard from teachers anecdotally,” commented Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop. “When we first started using Google Earth and training other teachers, we thought it was an amazing way to engage young people in environmental and global issues and we now have the evidence to back that up.”

Digital Explorer first used Google Earth on an expedition to Morocco in 2006 and since then has trained over 500 teachers to use Google Earth on their own field trips and in the classroom. The software has the ability to make “international learning more real” and “brings the wider world into the classroom” according to teacher comments as part of the survey. Others mention that they “can’t use it enough” and through it “geography is made more accessible and personal”. However, teachers also highlighted that school networks and ICT infrastructure can be a barrier to the widespread use of technologies like Google Earth in the classroom.

“I loved the Digital Explorer training and was full of ideas when I came back to school. The number one factor holding me back is the school network. Images loaded into Google Earth do not load in time and if I put a class on Google Earth it grinds to a halt. All very sad! I have high hopes for better results when we get a new school!” explained one course participant.

The survey was designed and conducted by Sandy Beatty of Sandy Beatty Services Ltd on behalf of Digital Explorer. 481 survey invitations were delivered to the email addresses of the participants of Digital Explorer Google earth training courses held between January 2007 and July 2009.

A full copy of the report can be downloaded from:

http://digitalexplorer.co.uk/press/google-earth-in-the-classroom.pdf

Coronation Street

Coronation Street has been added to Google Street View.

View Larger Map

Could be a useful place to visit with students, perhaps for a literacy task ?

Are there any other soap opera locations in Street View ?

Via Twitter.

Google Earth in Primary Classroom

A new resource created and shared by Graeme Eyre, from the Anglo European School in Essex.

Graeme is also one of the GA's Primary Geography Champions.

Using Google Earth In The Primary Classroom

View more documents from Graeme Eyre.

Language of Landscape Survey - prize draw

The Ordnance Survey Free Maps for 11 Year Olds are arriving in schools - you may already have had yours...

When you get the maps, you will also find a couple of (much sought after) hard copies of a publication called "The Language of Landscape"

The booklet is supported by a series of downloads from the NATURAL ENGLAND website.

I have created a SURVEY MONKEY SURVEY for those who have got their maps, and have also made use of the "Language of Landscape" to help students use the maps: whether inside or outside the classroom (or ideally both...)

Click Here to take survey

If you have used the maps and the book, please fill in the survey.

All completed questionnaires by 1st of December will be entered into a Prize Draw to win a copy of the KS3 Teachers Toolkit title: "Look at it this Way", a copy of the Geography Collective's "Journey Journal" and a few other geographical goodies....

Don't forget to use Google Earth with your OS maps...

Latest Sightseer

The latest version of Google Earth 5 is now available to download: via GOOGLE SIGHTSEER.

Make sure that you have this up to date version....

Also included is a wider range of 3D cities.

Also mentions some GOOGLE HEROES.

A nice additional VIRTUAL TOUR has been put together by VR WEB design.

This shows LONDON.

Collaborative document

Now up to 24 ideas in this collaborative document started by Tom Barrett...

Climate Change Resource on Google Earth

Thanks to Ollie Bray for the tipoff to a resource for Google Earth which is being launched in time for Copenhagen climate change conference in December.

Watch the video for more details...

The Google Holodeck

Via Twitter



Cool...

New GA website now live....

Not directly Google Earth related I know, but....

The GA web team: Anne Greaves and Ben Major, have been working away for months with designers Ledgard Jepson on a new website for the Geographical Association, and it is now live, after several weeks of beta testing and tweaking. Visit the GA URL http://www.geography.org.uk to see the new site.

The site looks a lot brighter, clearer and easier to navigate, and uses more of the screen’s width. Thanks to a major effort on tagging the resources, it is also easier to find things using the ‘Search’ function if they are not immediately obvious from the home page, and a new ‘Resource Finder’ should help you find something appropriate to the key stage and topic that you are interested in quickly, or items written by a particular author.

A one page user guide to the new site and how it’s laid out can be downloaded by following the link (PDF download): http://www.geography.org.uk/download/GA_NewWebsiteGuide.pdf

Members can also bookmark their most useful sections of the website on their own personal homepage. Logging in to the site will provide members with details about their account, and allow access to the journals which you subscribe to.

There are plenty of new items in the shop, which are displayed in a scrolling window, which will also suggest items that might be of relevance to you if you login.

News is easier to find, and has all been updated.

If you are not already a GA member, this is a good time to join and take advantage of the many membership benefits.

The website is also home to all the resources supporting the GA’s manifesto for school geography “a different view”.

Download the latest GA MAGAZINE from the site now

500 million Google Earth users ?

Thanks to @gearthblog via Twitter for the figure, from a presentation available online by Michael T Jones of Google

Google Earth GIS Training

Advance notice of a session on "cheap GIS solutions" that I will be facilitating at 4pm next Tuesday at the Brinsworth Training Centre, opposite CENT near the MAGNA centre....

The event is being organised by the GA Rotherham Branch.

I will be talking about the use of cheap GIS solutions: particularly the use of Google Earth, which could be used in a progressive way to map data and connect it to a location.

I will mention a range of projects, including Noel Jenkins' impressive Wellington Stories project.

Michael Palin and Ben Saunders

Google Earth is a great tool for mapping children's stories...

Noel Jenkins has been developing his Wellington Stories mapping activity...

View Wellington Stories in a larger map

This involves QR codes and also GOOGLE MAPPING.

Earlier this year, Michael Palin was introduced as the new President of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)

There's an interesting article in the Independent newspaper today, which can be read by clicking the link.

A few interesting quotes on what Michael thinks about geography can be found in the article.

"For some reason, geography is not seen as a popular subject in school. It's seen as very unglamorous. Yet when I was at school, I can remember geography offering me the chance to get out and go on field trips and go on walks, and I loved maps, I loved atlases, I loved learning about other countries and places where things were different from our own – and that's all covered by geography."

Good to hear the interest in 'the Boss' too....

Ben Saunders is an Honorary Vice President of the Geographical Association.

Ben Saunders from Ben Saunders on Vimeo.

Follow Ben on Twitter @polarben is his account

A recent tweet by Ben lead me to "The Wilderness of Childhood" by Michael Chabon: an article from the NY Review of Books...

This contains an interesting exploration of the importance of place and exploration in children's lives: a theme that was also picked up in the Michael Palin interview.

All of this fits in completely with many of the projects that are currently underway at the Geographical Association, investigating local area using mapping, GIS and technology. These are certainly "interesting times" for geography.

To finish, a quote from the Michael Chabon article:

"Childhood is a branch of cartography"

Map of the Day

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“They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”

Thanks to Keir Clarke